This morning I got up at 6 a.m. and went downstairs to let Noche out of the basement. I couldn't find him. I looked all over for him, called him and he never came. I went to DH's room and woke him up. I told him Noche was gone. He told me Noche had followed him when he went outside.
I was so startled. I asked him when he'd gone outside and he said a couple of hours before. I asked him why he went out. He couldn't answer me. He was wearing his jockey shorts and that's all. It is still pitch dark here at 6 a.m. I was so unnerved. The cat eventually came in so that part's ok. But the fact that he went outside in his shorts at this time of year at that time of the morning has got me really bothered. Thankfully, the back yard is enclosed but why he went out there is a mystery.
I did ask him not to let the cat out any more because he is so black if he gets in the street, the drivers won't be able to see him and he's liable to get hurt. DH said he wouldn't do that but he'd completely forgotten that he did it in the first place.
Same here.. The short-term mem. is getting shorter now and they may NOT be able to know why they went out in the first place OR that they actually DID go out.
This isn't the same thing but with regard to my dog and the efforts of DH to TEND to him when I'm away from the house to run errands or etc. He didn't REMEMBER that he had taken the dog outside and TIED him to the fence. I was gone for 3 hours... left the dog in his 'room' in his bed all set to stay right there.. DH said he thought I came back at some point and took the dog outside, then left again. UMMM???? Since he didn't do it, either I or someone else must have. Indeed, this has scarey implications for some of the other things that he will not remember doing..or remember WHY he decides to do them.
Mawsy, count your lucky stars he didnt wander off in the dead of nite in the freezing weather dressed like that. I tried before to tell yall its going to happen eventually and the first time is going to be a shocker-the news lately tells us some were not so lucky-get those bolts today. Divvi
Mawsy, I am glad all turned out well.My daughter has some kind of system at her house so that a kind of bell bell sounds when the door is opened or closed. It was a new house they bought about 10 years ago. It was great for small kids. I don't know if it is part of an alarm system or what. With this disease, they can't remember what they did 2 minutes ago. We went to see our daughter-in-law in the hospital, yesterday. On they way home, DH asked me why we were there.
I put an alarm on the door of our apartment. I can set it for a loud siren (which I need a code to shut off) or a soft bell which stops after a couple of sounds. So far the bell has worked. Most of the time DW stops and closes the door when the bell rings. Once she went out and was wandering down the hall. Since she doesn't wander at night this works well. I can be in my den doing work and not worry about her wandering off.
Mawsy.....He may have not gone out. My DH told me one morning that he was outside and couldn't find the townhouse we live in (they all look a like). I am quite sure he was not outside. A lot of the time he can't find his bed after going to the bathroom at night. Since they are connected and there is no way he could get lost and have come to the idea that he can not recognize his own bed.
This isn't scary but it is new. DH was complaining he hadn't been the bathroom again. I told him to get the Senn-S out and take 2 tonight before going to bed. He went to the closet and came back with Centrum Silver!!!! I asked what he was going to do with it and he said I told him to take 2 tonight. I put it back and got the Senna-S and told him NOT to take 4 like the last time when we ended up with a blocked toilet.
And Jean, it sounds like now's the time for you to manage the medications.
Was it the full moon, Mawzy, do you think? Last night mine got up at 4:30 (pitch black in my room, streaming moon in his) and was trying to get to the bathroom without waking me. His jingle bells on the door (which he hates, but can't figure out how to remove) woke me up. He just can't hold the train of thought about going to the bathroom long enough to actually do it and go back to bed. Gets lost somewhere in there. So I get up, monitor what he's doing, until he's tucked back in.
We're upstairs and he only goes down with his glide-chair, and turning it around to get in it a) makes a racket and b) is hard for him to figure out. If he tried to go down without it he would turn on the light - he's rightly terrified of falling down the stairs. And I'd see thaat! SO I'm not too worried about him escaping. Yet.
Mawzy, I was going to say what Bama said ... he may not have gone outside at all. My husband has been known to say he had gone outside when I have been right there and know darned well he hadn't. (And vice versa, of course.)
It is a wakeup call, of course, no matter what happened. It is so hard, trying to keep them as independent as possible without running a serious risk of putting them in harm's way...